‘It is often said that one must lead by example. A general should lead their troops into battle, a politican should be the change they want to see, and a teacher should embody the very principles they teach. How, then, can you fault me for doing exactly that?’

— Last words of Liana the Many-faced,

First Whisper of the Rossic Empire,

Estinian Royal Ambassador,

The Sultan’s Dagger,

Eye of the Senate,

before her execution for high treason in the Grand Coliseum of Tarth.

The evening of his second day in Locros saw Quinn sat at a table with Bao in ‘The Sober Scholar’, an ironic name given the amount of drinking going on. It was packed full with new students still celebrating making it through this year's entrance exams as well as older students excited to start another year.

“Where was it you said you were from again?” Asked Bao, voice raised to be made out over the roar of the room.

Quinn narrowly managed to avoid choking on his drink at the question, his mind kicking into overdrive.

“What did you say?” Asked Quinn as he turned his ear toward Bao in the universal gesture of ‘Speak up I couldn’t hear you’.

While Bao tried shouting his question again, Quinn scrambled to think of how to continue avoiding giving an answer.

Initially, going out with his roommates to get to know them had seemed like a great idea, but Quinn hadn’t realized how difficult it was going to be to keep his Outworlder status under wraps. As a result, much of the group's shopping expedition had been spent with him dodging questions and instead getting his roommates to talk about themselves.

When they had returned to Linton Tower to drop off all of Quinn’s purchases of the day, he had tried to take the chance to escape to his room and avoid more questions. Of course, none of them had thought to buy food while they were out and since the University’s dining hall didn’t open until classes started in two days, Quinn had agreed with the suggestion that they go get some food and drinks at a tavern Clint had heard about.

In the end though it was good that he had joined them, even if he was struggling to keep his secret. He was happy to have made some friends in this foreign world he had found himself in. It helped to numb the ache in his gut when he thought about his old life back home.

”Where are you from?” Repeated Bao, this time leaning across the table to be sure Quinn could hear him.

”Ohhhhh… Where am I from? Well, you see—“

”Did y’all hear the news!” Shouted Clint from over Quinn’s shoulder, having returned from his sortie to the bar for another drink.

At first, Quinn felt relief at the sudden change of topic. Then Clint continued speaking..

”Someone found a paper that was left behind in the hospital talking about ‘breaching the Fabric’ and another student overheard a professor ranting about ‘How much trouble admitting that applicant is going to bring’. Folks put two and two together and are now claiming there’s an Outworlder at the University! Do y’all think it's true?”

Quinn tried his best to keep a steady face at Clint’s words.

”An Outworlder? That’s crazy talk! Right Bao?” Said Quinn with a laugh.

He thought he had done a good job of playing it off for a moment, but that thought vanished as he saw Bao looking at him, eyes wide.

”What’s the matter Bao? You look like you’ve seen a….” Clint trailed off as he followed Bao’s gaze to Quinn. ”Ah, damn. That makes sense.”

A lump formed in Quinn’s throat and his mind raced as he looked back and forth between his new roommates. The cheery sounds of the tavern seemed to fade away into the periphery as they all sat, staring at each other.

”Quinn are you—“ began Bao before being drowned out by Clint

”You know, it's getting pretty crowded here. How bout we take this conversation back to the Tower?” He said with a tilt of his head to the packed room around them.

Quinn shot Clint a look of gratitude, “I was just thinking the same thing.”

Bao, taking the hint, nodded his agreement.

Together, the trio stood and headed out the door. The noise of the tavern faded away, replaced by a waiting silence as they began their trek back to the University under the soft white glow of the street lights.

—

“And when I woke up, I had Max and Andrew standing over me arguing. I think you know the rest from there…” Quinn trailed off, having finished retelling his arrival.

Looking down at his hands he noticed that he had started fidgeting with one of the wooden carvings again at some point in his tale. His cheeks flushed and he added a mumbled, “Sorry” while setting it back down on the desk.

The group was gathered in Clint’s room, having mutually agreed upon their arrival back at Linton that this wasn’t a conversation for the common area.

The room was quiet for a few moments, Bao and Clint busy taking time to process everything Quinn had told them.

”Sorry about not telling you guys earlier.” Ventured Quinn, “I just wasn’t sure who I could tell.”

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”Can’t say I blame you. If I was in your shoes I would’ve done the same.” Said Bao with a shrug before adding, “You’re pretty lucky, I can’t think of a better place to end up as an Outworlder than Hollow.”

This drew a laugh from Clint, the tension in the room fading. ”Was thinking the same thing! Imagine if he had woken up in Rosstin— He’d have been executed before the day was out!”

”I know right! Or what if he ended up in Blyst? I’ve heard even the trees eat people there…”

Quinn felt himself go pale.

”But you ended up in Hollow! Pretty lucky, as I said, so no sense in dwelling on any of that… How about you tell us why you decided not to tell your roommates?”

Bao’s quick diversion brought some of the color rushing back to Quinn’s face as his words made Quinn’s cheeks flush in embarrassment.

”I guess in hindsight it seems silly that I didn’t. The Chancellor did tell me that I would be safe here, but Peter seemed convinced I would be in danger if I told anyone.” Said Quinn. “Must’ve been an overreaction on his part though. Right?”

Clint shared a hesitant look with Bao.

”Well, maybe not?” Said Clint, “Wouldn’t go shouting from the rooftops that I’m an Outworlder if I was you… But now you’re a student of the University! You’ve got its backing so no one should try to harm you. If you hadn’t passed admissions that might be a different story, but as Bao said— No sense in dwelling on any of that.”

”Wait, what do you mean I’ve got the University’s backing?” Asked Quinn, “Is being a student here really that big of a deal?”

Another look passed between Bao and Clint.

”Yes.” They said in unison.

At the confused look from Quinn, Bao elaborated.

”We call it the University because it is the University. The only one. If you want to learn to control Aether, you come here. Trying to teach yourself is banned in most places due to the consequences involved in losing control of an Aether flow. If you don’t pass admissions, you can always try again next year after studying some more. And when you do pass… you become a Student of the University with all the rights that affords you.”

”And these rights are a big deal?” Asked Quinn

”It says all this in the handbook. Didn’t Andrew give you a copy?” Said Clint

Quinn thought about the book he had been given and its current location, buried under the pile of his purchases from the trio’s shopping trip earlier today. To be honest, he’d completely forgotten its existence until that moment.

”He did.” Confessed Quinn, “I just haven’t had the chance to read it yet… I’ll be sure to do that.”

Bao sighed. “You really should— Especially as an Outworlder. It has important rules and information to keep in mind. To answer your question though— Just think of the University as the ultimate magical deterrent. For most people, or even nations, messing with a student isn’t going to provide enough benefit to outweigh the hell-fire that will rain down upon them for doing so.”

“So you are saying the University is like a nuclear power?” asked Quinn

Bao and Clint both stared at him, not understanding his question.

“What’s a ‘nuclear power’?” asked Bao

Scenes of a magically boosted nuclear armageddon played out in Quinn’s mind.

“Uh… just something from my world— never mind that. I get what you’re saying now.”

To his relief, they shrugged, accepting the answer. Introducing nukes to this new world was best to be avoided. He could only imagine how horrifically that would go over.

“So me being an Outworlder would make people angry, but they also wouldn’t do anything to me for fear of retribution from the University?”

”Exactly! So it's mostly safe if someone finds out, but, like Clint said, I wouldn’t shout it from the rooftops.”

That made sense to Quinn, who was starting to think of his status as an Outworlder as being the child of a controversial politician. Sure, there were some people out there that might do something crazy if they knew who he was, but most people wouldn’t care.

He was about ready to move on from the topic, but there was something nagging at the back of his mind. “Wait, why is the University the only University? Shouldn’t there be other places to learn Aether control?”

“Anytime someone else tries making an organized school for magic it… fails miserably. It’s one of the Suspected Bargains…” Bao trailed off as Quinn stared at him with a vacant look.

”…Which he doesn’t know about,” finished Clint before standing with a groan. “You start to explain the Known and Suspected Bargains to him. I’m gonna go get us some coffee… It’s gonna be a long night.”

—

The ‘Hollow University Student’s Handbook’ had an extensive list of rules and ethical codes that students were expected to follow, with consequences for breaking them ranging from a simple fine, to expulsion from the University, all the way up to death for extreme violations. Spying on another student in their room ranked somewhere between fine and expulsion, depending on the details of the situation.

When students first joined the University and learned of the various rules, they tended to be on their best behavior— Getting caught could have dire consequences! Over time, though, they learned that they would only be punished if they were caught and that the University only put a paltry effort into enforcing most of the lesser crimes in the Handbook.

This led some students to a realization.

Officially, the University didn’t have any classes on criminology, espionage, theft, or other less than savory things that could be done with magic. That would be morally irreprehensible after all.

Unofficially, it was accepted by those students interested in such things that the Handbook was their syllabus and the somewhat lack luster enforcement of its rules their coursework.

The University’s teachings were focused on preparing students for the real world, and jobs in the real world came in all shapes and sizes. Yes it is true that you could be an artificer, war mage, alchemist, or botanist. But it was just as true that someone might elect to be a smuggler, spy, information broker, or Peacemaker.

As Bao began to give his explanation on Bargains to Quinn, Andrew dropped the spell letting him eavesdrop on Clint’s room. He’d gotten the most important parts and didn’t really want to sit through a rushed lecture on the Fae.

He switched his focus to studying the glyph covered crystal on his desk, the one which he had recorded the trio’s ‘private’ conversation in. Any of the Rossic nobility on campus would probably pay an exorbitant amount of money for it to try and gain favor back home with the identity of an Outworlder. He could also take it to any Senator’s kid who would match that offer just to spite them. Regardless of who he sold it to, it would give him a nice head start on life after graduation.

Andrew took a moment to imagine the comfortable life he could buy. A nice mountain home in Hollow, or maybe a seaside villa in Oshan.

The nice dreams faded as he began channeling a raw Aether flow through the crystal’s intricate storage matrix. If he was going to have a shot at becoming a Peacemaker after graduation, he couldn’t sell a secret like this. He tensed for a moment, preparing for the worst, before the crystal crumbled away into… dandelion fluff? That was a new one for him.

He probably could have gotten away with just smashing it, but he’d learned the most thorough way to destroy a recording crystal was by subjecting it to unfiltered Chaos. Some wizard had a spell for everything and he wouldn’t be surprised if one of his fellow classmates could’ve found a way to restore the crystal from a pile of shards if he had just smashed it.

Was it likely? No, but he’d once seen an elf make a sunflower seed sprout and proceed give a report on all the events that had transpired in its presence over the past week, so he wasn’t going to leave anything to chance.

Sure, that Aether flow may have been just as likely to have turned it into a juvenile Mage-Eater Toad as it was to turn it into a pile of dandelion fluff, but what’s life without a little excitement. The wards in his room would probably have been able to keep him safe.

After casting a quick analysis spell to confirm the dandelion fluff was magically inert, tension faded from his shoulders. Brushing it away into his waste bin, Andrew took some time to mull over the conversation in his mind, thinking of what his next steps should be.

Bao had been right; Quinn was lucky. As it stood, he was confident that no one else had been listening in— people normally didn’t start bugging rooms until a few weeks into the term, and even then only those of important individuals. No sense wasting the effort before you knew who was worth spending it on.

The only reason Andrew had the chance to catch any of this was because of one of the security spells, which he’d hidden in the ward on all his resident’s doors, alerting him to three people entering Clint’s room. Under most circumstances, he wouldn’t have cared, people are free to have guests, but it was pretty late at night and he was responsible for the safety of his residents. That had been enough to drag him out of bed and check what was happening, thus leading to the headache he found himself in.

Reaching into the hidden compartment of folded space on his desk, he retrieved the book detailing the extra wards that he’d constructed for Linton Tower this year. With a yawn, he opened it up and started work on the upgrades he was going to have to make before word got out. While it may have been tradition to let student’s learn about warding their rooms the hard way, Andrew had a feeling Quinn might end up dealing with a little more than harmless pranks and petty theft.

He took a brief look out the window and saw the moon rising up over the crests of the mountains surrounding the city.

It was going to be a long night.